Firelight: A KOTLC Fanfic
by 4Ever-Foxfire
Summary: Sophie couldn't stand it anymore. It was already two years since the big fight, two years since the team broke up. But childhood memories and unwanted thoughts keep haunting her dreams. Meanwhile, a dark, mysterious enemy is rising from the ashes. Sophie realizes that it's not the end... But little does she know, her fiercest weapon is none other than teamwork- and reunion.
1. Flashback

**-*Author's Note*-**

 **~4Ever-Foxfire**

 **Hey, everyone! IT'S FINALLY HERE! My new(first) story! I can't wait to tell you guys how excited I am about this fanfic. Are you excited? No? Well, I surely am!**

 **So... I'm sorry, so this is addressed to you if you are shipping someone. The thing is, I don't do ships. Not at all. I guess I want to focus on the plot more than the characters' love relationships, and, well, ahem*coughs* I** ** _might_** **kind of want all the boys to like Sophie a bit, at least a little. I mean, I JUST CAN'T SERIOUSLY IMAGINE HOW A BOY COULD CHOOSE SOMEONE OVER OUR WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL SOPHIE?! I do think that, with Sophie's crush on Fitz and the way Keefe so obviously likes Sophie like Biana likes Keefe, I wouldn't hate it if Shannon Messenger decides to choose girlfriend-boyfriend relationships. BUT I don't like the way Fitz stares at Linh every time she uses her amazing powers. I like Linh, but, well, OH FITZ WHY DON'T YOU HAVE SOME SENSE AND GET TO LIKE SOPHIE?!**

 **O-okay,*laughs nervously* Sorry for that outburst. Well, you get the point. I don't really think the kissy-kissy thing if my type, and I definitely don't need Dex choosing Biana over Sophie or all the things that mean that Sophie is chosen over, like, when the story isn't even done yet. So if you're not looking for what my fanfic has to offer, you don't need to read my fanfic.**

 **In this fanfic, the time setting is when Sophie and her friends are residing in the Silver Towers in their later Foxfire years...**

 **Anyway, if I'm correct we really need to get this story going- so, INTRODUCING...**

* * *

 **Prologue -** _FLASHBACK_

 _"Yes!" He shouted as he held up the corked bottle. "Finally, the seurm. It's done."_

 _"What is?" His assistant asked as he walked out of the side room._

 _He scowled. "Useless apprentice. Don't you see that this is the very solution to our problems?" He took a step forward and held the bottle up to the light. It shone with bright red firelight. "We don't need some upstart Neverseen to help us! This will be our ultimate goal."  
_

 _His assistant gasped._

 _He scowled once again._

 _"What do you mean?" His assistant whispered, his eyes fixed on the glowing bottle._

 _"The Solution To All Problems." He said softly, his lips curling into a wicked smile. "The Council thinks that we do not know of its intentions. They think that we are... blind." He smiled again. "Who's the blind one, now? Eh?"_

 _The assistant nodded. But then he frowned."What side?"_

 _"You are even more dimwitted than I thought." He scowled yet again. "This will make sure that they will fail."_

 _"Really?" His assistant glanced doubtfully at the fiery bottle._

 _"Yes. Really." His lips once again curled into an insane smile. "Behold the firelight."_

* * *

 **-1-** _  
_

"Sophie?" It was dawn when Sophie heard someone calling her. Rubbing her eyes, she stumbled out of bed and found herself face to face with her roommate.

"Ahh!" Sophie gasped, sliding onto the bed again. "Laieen! Why are you in here? Or- is it- how did you know-"

"Why?" Laieen smirked as she plopped down beside Sophie. "How did I know your passcode? Is that it?"

"B-but Rester had it made so that-"

"So that nobody could break through! Though, of course, you wouldn't be surprised if I... you know..."

Sophie gasped. "Laieen! Pryokinetics? Seriously? Or- or Technopath powers-"

Her roommate grinned. She was just about the only elf Sophie knew that had more than two different abilities, besides herself. "No," she answered proudly, "It turns out, Phasers do have cool stuff to do."

"Phasers?" Sophie asked. "I guess I should ask Rester to fix that, too." Rester was the expert Technopath in the year above them. He was just about the most powerful Technopath Sophie knew.

Well, except for Dex Dizznee.

 _Don't think about Dex!_ Sophie shook her head, trying to erase all the bad memories that instantly formed in her head. _This isn't the time for stupid childhood differences._ "So, what's new?" _The feeling of fury as they fought once again..._

Laieen laughed. In the early dawn light, her fire red hair gave a mysterious aura hanging around it. Her dark aqua eyes sparkled. "I brought news for you." She announced. "Our lovely Head decided that the Silver Towers' tests should be taken earlier." _The feeling of horror as the news sank in..._

"Nooo." Sophie moaned, hiding her face in her hands. "No. Please. Noooo." Despite her photographic memory, Sophie had a hard time studying these days. Recently she'd discovered a way to forget all the useless things that bothered her, and she'd finally started to memorize something. But if the exams were earlier in the year...

Laieen smirked. "Where was the all-smart, photographic know-all girl I once knew? You know, your personality's really changed over the past two years."

"I know." Sophie said. "Just... there's so much to think about and-" _The feeling of anger as she understood what they meant..._

"I know, I know." Laieen interrupted. "And you don't need to be offended, because I actually like your new personality better. When you were younger, you were too kind, and forgiving-"

"Stop!" Sophie laughed. Laieen giggled along with her.

 _The feeling of sadness as she realized that their lives weren't together..._

"-and you let your old friends read all your mail. But I was worried you'd lose your own opinions. Too kind, too sweet, too forgiving. I like the new Sophie better." Laieen wound her finger around a lock of her red hair. "More... fiery. Better at defense. Not letting some little friends poke into your life like a snoody bunch of nobodies. You're more confident and self-defensive now."

"Really?" Sophie asked. _The feeling of betrayal as they screamed at her..._

"Yep! Of course. Why would I lie? And, of course, the Council wants another ability session with you tomorrow."

The news crashed upon her like thunder. "Oh, no." She mumbled. "And I thought I had enough abilities to last me a lifetime. Why should I get more?"

"I don't know. I guess the Council's just checking to see if you have any more abilities that'll help them get more famous." Laieen told her.

 _The unwanted silence as her favorite friends walked away..._

Sophie tried to smile. "Well, thanks. I really need to get studied up now, though. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem." Laieen replied, and with a wink, she closed the door behind her.

As soon as the familiar _click!_ of the lock sounded, Sophie lay down on her bed and sighed.

Childhood memories.

Unwanted thoughts.

Why did she have to be born with these?

Of course her personality had changed. She's been ever suspicious and self-defensive ever since she got betrayed by her friends.

 _"I think we should split up now."_

 _"We've had enough."_

 _"Let's go our separate ways from now on."_

 _"Sophie? You're agreeing too, right?"_

No, you're wrong, Sophie thought furiously, trying to stop all the worrying thoughts that filled her mind. "No. NO!" She shouted out loud. They were wrong. They were wrong to believe in that stupid strategy that Tam had developed. Sophie could still hear his voice ringing in her mind.

 _"We should split up now." Tam said after yet another unwanted argument. They'd been arguing for the past three months. All of them._

 _"Maybe... maybe we should." Fitz slowly agreed._

 _"We've been through enough together to last a lifetime." Keefe added, nodding._

 _"I guess that's a suitable idea." Linh mumbled._

 _"Wait, what?" Dex asked, horror slowly forming on his face. "No. You can't do that!"_

 _"We can if we want to." Fitz replied. Sophie couldn't believe he was even saying this. "As Keefe said, we've been through enough already."_

 _"No!" Biana told him. "You can't and we won't let you. Right, Sophie?"_

 _"Yes!" Sophie agreed. "Think of all that we've been in together. Do you think we really should split up now?"_

 _"Do you think we should stick together forever, then?" Tam growled. "It's time to get apart. Linh, let's go."  
_

 _"O-okay." Linh stammered, and with a last mournful glance at the others, followed Tam out the door. Fitz turned to Biana._

 _"Biana, we should go, too."_

 _"No!" Biana yelled at him. Tears were already sliding down her furious face. "No! You can't do this to me! You can't do this to us!"_

 _"Biana." Fitz sighed as if annoyed. "There's no "us" anymore. I don't want any more drama, okay? Just stop crying and come."_

 _"I am NOT going to come!" Biana screamed. "NEVER!"_

 _Sophie stared at the fighting siblings. Dex was jumping in and shouting at Fitz about how they should all stick together, but it didn't have much effect as Keefe had taken Fitz's side. Everyone was fighting. Maybe Tam was right. Maybe their lives just weren't meant to be together._

 _Maybe she should just give up._

 _"Wait." Sophie said. Everyone turned to her. Biana was crying, Dex was fighting and furious, Fitz was deeply annoyed and Keefe..._

 _She couldn't look at Keefe anymore._

 _All the humor had vanished from his eyes. All that was left was a torn-apart boy who was raging with fury. The boy standing in front of her wasn't the Keefe she had once known._

 _Sophie was speechless. The silence awaited her, her old friends questioning, but she was, for once, lost for words. All that had happened were a couple of fights between them. But it had torn them apart. Had their friendship really been that weak?_

 _Sophie couldn't stand it anymore. It had all been for nothing. She turned and, gulping down tears, ran away from her biggest nightmare._

But the nightmare of being torn from her friends was now back and probably haunting her memories forever. Sophie regretted running away that night without a word. She was mad at her friends. She was mad at her life. She was mad at the world for being so unfair.

But mostly she was mad at herself.

That night Sophie slept with a thousand nightmares haunting her sleep.

* * *

 **Finally! So what did you guys think of the chapter? Was it good? Or did it need more improvement? When you leave your reviews, please remember that although I accept structural criticism, I don't like it when people try to kill me in the reviews ;) Thanks for reading this chapter!**

 **~4Ever-Foxfire**


	2. Once Upon a Time

**Hey guys! I'm BAAAACK here! So. What'd you think of the first chapter? Was it good enough? Please let me know :) Constructive criticism is allowed anytime :)**

 **TEAM SOPHIE- Thank you! I was worried that no one would like my story ;) Thanks again for reviewing! ^~^**

 **INTRODUCING...**

* * *

 **-2-**

Sophie couldn't stand it anymore.

It was the day after the big exams. Sophie had just barely passed.

She'd withstood her burden for more than two years. But now... she was broken, both inside and outside.

She couldn't control herself anymore. All her normal thoughts were gone. She was gone.

She couldn't even focus on her studies.

"Sophie?" Laieen's voice rang all the way up the stairs. "SOPHIE! Let's go, go, go!"

"Huh?" Sophie rubbed her eyes and stood up.

"There'll be- there'll be-" Laieen burst through the door. "There'll be A PARTY!"

"What party?" Sophie asked.

"THE STUDENTS OPENED A PARTY TO CELEBRATE THE END OF THE EXAMS!"

"Oh." Sophie said. "Well, hope you have a good time."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Laieen yelled. "OF COURSE YOU'RE COMING TOO!"

"I'm fine." Sophie said.

"OF COURSE YOU"RE NOT!" Laieen dragged Sophie towards the door. "Come. I have a lot of cool dresses in my room." She paused, then added, "There's also this red dress that'll look PERFECT on you! It features the latest trends, including the-"

Sophie sighed. "Sometimes you're just like Biana."

"The girl Vacker?" Laieen laughed. "Of course not. I REFUSE to resemble a Vacker."

"Now you're like Dex."

"Now you're bringing me to the edge of dumping you."

"What? Considering the circumstances, shouldn't I be the one who thinks about dumping people?" Sophie asked her incredulously.

"OH, no," Laieen said affectionately, brushing a stray strand of hair off Sophie's cheek. "You're my best friend. Except for your old friends."

"They're not my best friends anymore," Sophie mumbled.

"Oh, they'll come looking for you someday," Laieen told her. "That's how people work around you."

Sophie shrugged. "That won't happen."

"Oh, we'll see," Laieen replied with a wink. "Anyway, you'll have to take back the Vacker insult after you see my wardrobe." She smiled and flung open the wooden door.

The inside of the wardrobe was neatly stacked with piles of dresses for all occasions. Laieen had carefully labeled them each by their special effects and what kinds of people they looked good on, and she'd given them all a touch of her abilities. There was a multicolored sleeveless dress that shimmered in the light, and according to the label, Laieen had apparently given it the ability of enhancing Phasers' abilities. There was a jet black dress with emerald green patterns in which Laieen had made Rester turn into a special mechanical dress that could change color by the push of hidden buttons. Though it had some pretty cool things, Sophie couldn't help notice how sparkly and shiny they all were.

"Um..." Sophie mumbled, "Actually, it's the same as Biana's wardrobe. Or used to be. I mean, I haven't seen it for a while, so yeah, but it probably got even crazier, though maybe there's a slight chance she-"

"WHAZZAAAT?" Laieen yelled. "Biana Vacker and ME? You sure you're serious? We can't be the same! Come on, I have a better wardrobe, right?"

"Of course, Laieen." Sophie laughed. "I like all the cool stuff, though they're all a bit too glittery for my taste."

"Ohhh." Laieen said, realization dawning on her face. "I guess we can fix THAT." She picked up one of the dresses, an azure blue one, and dusted it while holding it far away from her nose. Immediately glitter started falling from the shimmery folds of the fabric, turning the floor of the room into a sparkly heap.

"Whoa," Sophie stared at all the glitter on the ground. "How did you get all the glitter on the dress?"

"I- I dunno," Laieen replied, wiping her forehead. The dress in her hand was now a lot less sparkly, though it still had huge amounts of remaining glitter. Laieen's face turned beet red as she stammered, "One of my past dresses _might_ have had tubes in it filled with glitter that, um, accidentally exploded. You know, on top of all the other, um, dresses...?"

"What? Really?" Sophie started to giggle. No wonder the dresses were covered in heaps of glitter. Laieen had had the crazy idea to fill one of her dresses with the sparkly nuisance.

"I just wanted to set them off at Rester and Hirlen's party last week, okay?"

Sophie giggled again. "I'm so sorry I missed that one now."

Laieen chuckled. "You were all refusing-y to go there because of your studies, remember? And I gave up after two hours of persuading and went to the party."

"You know the only reason I refused to go was because it was one week before the final exams." Sophie reminded her. "That was why Rester and Hirlen had the party. To 'show the teachers' that they could go and have a fun time even if it was right before the exams."

"Yeah, well, whatever." Laieen replied. "We should really get started now. So... I'd bet you'll look _fabulous_ in red. You always do. So I have these couple red dresses, okay? What do you want?"

"Um..." To Sophie, all of the dresses really looked the same. They were all red, for starters. But when she looked closer, Sophie could see that they had a lot of different things. For instance, one was sleeveless and with swirly patterns on the bodice, while another had long, translucent sleeves and several layers of fabric.

Finally Sophie settled on one that wasn't too noticeable but not too simple, a bright red dress with only one strap and that reached just until her ankles. The top of the bodice was covered with tiny rhinestones, but as they went down the jewels became fewer and fewer until the bottom of the dress had only a few of them dotted in the fabric. Sophie dusted it off until all the glitter from the tube dress had disappeared, then tried it on while Laieen took another five minutes to choose her outfit. It was the same azure blue one that Laieen had dusted off in the first place, and it had huge swirly patterns all over it made with rhinestones.

"Okay!" Laieen said when they were all done. "Now for makeup!"

"NO, NO, NO!" Sophie immediately yelled, covering her ears. "No makeup, please."

"Juuuuust this amount of lip gloss! Really!" Laieen told her, waving a bright red tube in front of Sophie's face.

"Nope!" Sophie replied, and a wild chase followed while Laieen tried to get lip gloss on Sophie and Sophie ran around trying not to get attacked with makeup.

Finally Sophie agreed on only a slight touch, and then she had to wait forever until Laieen finished applying dozens of bottles of makeup on her face. When Laieen was done covering her face with white powder, they set off down the stairs.

"What I don't understand," Sophie said as they made their way down, "is why you think makeup is needed for such a little party."

"It's not little, that's what," Laieen said, "they basically invited the whole population of the Silver Towers. All the teachers, all the students. Rester and Hirlen have THAT much power."

"What?" Sophie whirled around to face Laieen. "Everyone? Including the ones in the dorms next to us? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Why? What's the matter?"

"If they invited everyone," Sophie said, "then all of _them_ will come too!"

"Who?"

 _"Them!"_

"Oh." Laieen realized. "Your old friends. It's okay, I'll protect you."

"It won't be enough." Sophie mumbled.

"I promise, you'll be safe." Laieen told her. "Look! We're here now already!"

"I hope I don't run into them." Sophie whispered, her eyes darting around.

"You won't." Laieen assured her, patting her back. "Let's GO!"

Sophie sighed. "Okay."

Sophie and Laieen both rounded the corner to Rester and Hirlen's crazy party.

* * *

 **Was the chapter good? I know the end was a bit quick, but it's really late here and I want to start the next chapter as soon as I can ;) Remember that your reviews are welcome anytime! I'll try to update as soon as I can!**

 **~4Ever-Foxfire**


	3. Catastrophe

**Hey guys! This is 4Ever-Foxfire here! Thanks for leaving all those wonderful reviews! I was so happy when I found out! Seriously, with my "needs-to-be-perfect attitude" for looking at my works(not others though, somehow), I would have, like unpublished this story if nobody liked it :3 Thanks so much for following and reviewing, everyone!**

 **TEAM SOPHIE- XD Yeah, well, the usual jokes here and there, riiiiiiiight? XDXDXD**

 **thelittlepurplepuffball- Yeah, I agree, Laieen is an awesome friend! And with three abilities too, similar to Sophie... But she's not the only best friend Sophie will ever have... *wink wink***

 **VerdiTheTRex- Well, I wrote like five chapters before publishing this story, so after giving readers time to get to the last chapter, I'll be updating daily or so for a while ;) Thanks!**

 **sophieelisabeth- Thank you! I'm so glad you like it!**

 **INTRODUCING!**

* * *

 **-3-**

Loud, blaring music and crowds of laughing people immediately took over Sophie's senses. As Laieen pulled her through the crowds, laughing and greeting people she knew, Sophie stayed silent and carefully searched the crowd for any signs of her old friends. None, so far. But, like Sophie had known from the day she discovered her true identity, anything could change in just a matter of seconds.

And change it did.

Just as Laieen had given her some cold drinks to try out, Sophie felt a girl bump into her, accidentally spilling her drinks on the floor. She gasped and immediately bent down to clean them.

"No- no, I'll do it." the girl said hastily, holding her hands over the mess. Sophie's eyes widened as the juice evaporated and a ball of clear water wiped over the spilled spot. Oh, life. There was only one girl she knew who could do that-

"S-sophie?" Sophie looked up, and sure enough, the wide eyes of Linh Song were staring back at her. When Linh had come back to Foxfire, no longer the girl of many floods, she had been placed in a different dormitory from Sophie's. It had been a relief that Sophie wouldn't run into Linh anytime. And then, after all that business, a simple party was all it took for them to meet again.

Sophie was _so_ done with her life.

"Um- yeah, um, hi, Linh," she mumbled, staring at the floor. Linh seemed to be speechless too, looking at anywhere but her eyes.

 _"We should split up now."_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Yeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeahyeah..."_

"Sophie? Where are you?" Laieen's voice interrupted Sophie's thoughts. Sophie looked around wildly, searching for her friend. She turned around just in time to see her bursting through the crowd behind her with a worried expression on her face.

Just in time to also see Tam emerge from the crowd, grabbing Linh's hand and telling her to never disappear again.

Sophie had just enough time to think, _t_ _his can't be happening_ , before Tam looked up and noticed the blond haired girl staring at him. His eyes widened like Linh's.

An uncomfortable silence followed despite their loud surroundings.

Laieen looked nervously from the two siblings to her best friend. "Um." She cleared her throat, raising her voice above the noisy crowd. "Sophie, we gotta go now, right? You know, I promised you that I'd, um, like... show you, um, show you the... the pond with multicolored pebbles!" Her eyes were pleading for Sophie to go along with her excuse.

"Of course." Sophie answered, relieved that Laieen had been there to save her. "Let's go, right?" She took hold of Laieen's hand and let her best friend lead her away from the wide-eyed siblings.

"Now _that_ was close." Laieen said breathlessly after they'd gone far out of Tam and Linh's sight. They had been immediately swallowed up by the crowd, giving them a better chance of escaping the awkward moment.

"Yeah." Sophie agreed. "I told you, I didn't want to come to a party where you might get an awkward moment anytime."

"At least we're far away now." Laieen said. "We'll keep an eye out for more... ex-friends of yours, okay?"

"Okay." Sophie nodded. They cautiously edged towards the pond, warily eyeing every elf near them.

After reaching the multicolored pond, Laieen grabbed hold of Sophie's hands. "Sophie Elizabeth Foster-Ruewen." She said, her voice turning serious. "I'm going to teach you something now."

"Wha-what?" Sophie asked, anxiously looking at her friend.

"I'm going to teach you something."

"What?"

"Promise not to freak out first."

"Um, why? What's it about?"

"Promise not to freak out, okay?"

"Um, okay."

"Good. Great. Awesome. Terrific! Okay, so I'm going to teach you about... life."

"Life?"

"Yeah. Life. How to survive in the endless catastrophes of life."

"Well."

"Well?"

"So, um, _teacher_ , what's your point?"

"LIFE! Wonderful, beautiful, catastrophic life where you meet your old friends you broke up with and mend things up with them. Meet in front of the stairs after the party!" With that, Laieen bolted for the crowd and disappeared in the sea of people.

Sophie stared after her, lost for words. So it was one of Laieen's crazy ways to help old friends get together. Well, there was nothing else to do but wait. Sighing, she turned around and stood for a moment, admiring the pool.

Soon people began to close in around her, talking excitedly and commenting about the pond. Sophie focused her thoughts on the crowd. A girl's voice caught her attention. It sounded familiar yet somehow foreign at the same time.

"Hey, Rester, can we take a pebble from here?"

"No, no, absolutely not!"

"Why?"

"Just don't touch anything, okay?"

"I'M GONNA STEAL A PEBBLE!"

"Don't tell me I didn't warn you."

"Wait, what?"

 _BANG!_

"Oww, ow, ow!"

"I told you not to touch the pebbles!"

"I knew it! You didn't tell me about the exploding pebbles on purpose, didn't you?"

"You never know."

"Hey!"

"What? I warned you."

"WhatEVER. Huh. Technopaths and their technology. Fitz, I wanna check out something else now."

Sophie gasped.

"You'll have to wait a moment if you're going with me, Biana. Or go by yourself, you're old enough."

"Why?"

"I need to speak with Hirlen, okay?"

"Seriously. Your last year at Foxfire spent like THIS?"

"Choose, or something. Stay with me and wait, or go by yourself."

"Fine!"

Their voices were drowned out by the louder noises of the crowds.

Sophie gulped. They'd been at the same place up until just a moment ago. Ugh, life was really annoying.

Suddenly Hirlen fell into the pool right beside Sophie. He looked as if he were running away, and as his back hit the pebbles below, a series of loud BANG!s followed and the pebbles burst one by one.

"What was that?" Sophie asked him as she helped him up.

"Ugh, nothing." Hirlen replied, glaring at a figure in the crowd a distance away. His clothes were dripping with water and glitter from the exploding pebbles. "I was trying to run away from Fitz Vacker. You know, to avoid the whole talk about studies-" he grinned. "Maybe I can go prank him or something, maybe a potion that'll make him burp every time he says the word "study". He's concerned about my low scores or something."

"Can you really do that?" A boy asked, pushing through the crowd and walking up to Hirlen. He didn't seem to notice Sophie.

"Yep." Hirlen said. "Probably. If I have enough Limbium to go around." He paused, then added, "What I need right now is a towel."

"Hey, I'm allergic to Limbium." Sophie said, nudging him in the ribs. "Don't let that potion of yours get anywhere close to me."

"I once knew this girl who was allergic to Limbium!" The boy piped up. Suddenly his face turned red, and he mumbled, "No, forget what I just said, I-"

Sophie's eyes widened. "D-Dex?"

The boy looked up. His strawberry blond hair was hanging in a rather unimpressive way, but his periwinkle eyes were filled with knowledge and intelligence. Sophie knew exactly who that was. Dex Dizznee, the only Technopath Sophie knew who could beat Rester Murtino in technology. He was one of the friends who were the closest to Sophie, two years ago. He was also one of the friends who she had broken up with.

As Dex was one of the few friends who had taken Sophie's side, him and Biana were less awkward with seeing Sophie. Sophie had bumped into Dex once at Slurps and Burps, and she'd somehow turned up standing right next to Biana at a public announcement in Eternalia. Both times had been awkward and they'd all felt uncomfortable, but Sophie knew that she would've experienced the same thing a thousand times than accidentally run into Fitz, or Keefe, or Tam and Linh- which she had just done a minute ago.

"Sophie?" Dex asked, gaping at her. His eyes widened and Hirlen looked at them with a questioning look on his face. "Why? What's wrong? Dex, you look like you've just swallowed an imp."

"Uh, nothing." Dex replied, still staring. "Um, I- I think I gotta go. Oh, uh- Hirlen, I'd like to see y-your pranks someday. Thanks, um, bye, right?" He turned and ran hastily towards the nearest fountain.

Sophie stared after him, feeling as though she were plummeting through space into a black hole. She hadn't even thought to give Dex an apology for running away that night without a word. But he was gone now.

"Well, that was awkward." Hirlen muttered under his breath. He turned to Sophie. "Do you know what's wrong with him?"

"He- he's probably just excited with meeting you- he likes potions and good pranks, you know."

"Oh! Well." Hirlen grinned. "That's awesome! We could be the Prank Pals! Does that sound good?"

"Um, yeah." Sophie mumbled. "I have to go now too, so, well- um. Good luck with getting your towel."

"I forgot about that for a second." Hirlen told her. "Well. Guess I should go towel hunting now."

"Yeah, bye."

"Bye! And if Dizznee comes along again, tell him that he's welcome to come to me anytime!"

"Sure."

Sophie walked away, searching for Laieen. She finally spotted her sitting on a bench beside a food cart, munching on an odd-looking round sandwich. "Hey." Sophie called as she walked closer.

"Oh, hey! How did that meeting with Dizznee go?"

"Fine. Uncomfortable. Extremely horrifyingly awkward." Sophie said. She glared at Laieen as she sat down beside her. "Thanks a lot for abandoning me."

"You're welcome!" Laieen said cheerfully, bowing. "Friendship 101! Catastrophic Life! Cool! Awesome! Incredible!"

"Ugh, that moment with Dex was horrible." Sophie said. "Let's go back to our rooms now."

"Okay." Laieen pushed the last bit of the sandwich in her mouth and started up the stairs. Sophie followed her, relieved that the party was finally over.

But as Sophie climbed the last set of stairs to her room, she had this feeling- a sudden feeling- that things were not just done with her ex-friends yet.

Maybe Laieen really had taught her a lesson after all. Maybe, just maybe, her life with her old friends wasn't over.

Maybe things were going to change.


	4. IMPORTANT MESSAGE

***ATTENTION!***

 **I am going to Hawaii for a week. For all the people who have followed, favorited and reviewed this story, I know how much you are all waiting for an update- and I'm sorry to not be able to update for a while. I know I promised on daily updates... ;(**

 **glitterbutt11- Thank you! I'll try to update as soon as I can! :D**

 **thelittlepurplepuffball- Thanks! Considering the circumstances, for a week or so updates won't be that often, but after that I might update once every two days for a while. Our school always starts summer vacation late and ends it late, so I can :) Not bragging(believe me, I'm not), but I am a fast typer and so it doesn't take me that long to write a chapter ;)**

 **VerdiTheTRex- Haha, I love Laieen too! She is pretty funny, right? Hope I didn't upset you by the slow updates ;( Sorry, but I hope you like the next chapters! ;)**

 **booksaremylife- Thanks! Really, I'm so, so happy you like it! Oh, and Rester is the expert Technopath in the Silver Towers(like Dex), it says so in the first chapter but it's hard to notice it... sorry! ;) Hirlen is Rester's best friend, he's a Conjurer(SHH I DIDN'T WRITE IT IN THE BOOK YET!), and he's an expert potion maker and pranker. :)**

 **Since you must all be waiting for an update, I am once again very sorry for letting you down! I'll upload a couple of scenes from Chapter Four, not as a teaser but as a sneek peek for what'll happen next!**

* * *

 **-Sneek Peek-**

 _-FLASH!-_

"Hello, Sophie." Councillor Emery said calmly as she took her seat across from him. Her hair was still dotted with a few specks of glitter from the party. "I see you have been... busy."

Sophie blushed. Next to Emery, the rest of the councillors were sitting in identical chairs, all looking intently at Sophie and making her feel _extremely_ uncomfortable. "I- uh, I went to this party at Foxfire and I-"

"I have already been informed." Emery said quietly. "Shall we start, then?"

"Y-yes." Sophie mumbled. "I mean, um, okay." Ability sessions with the councillors had never been comfortable.

"So today is the last session." Emery said. "Apart from all your other abilities, we have not been able to find a single one more. So I expect you to try your best today, okay?"

"Okay." Sophie said, shifting in her seat. Ugh, why did they have to be so formal?

"So today we are trying something different." Emery told her, glancing at the other councillors. "It will be something we have never tried before."

"Oh. Um, okay."

"Are you sure you can handle this, Sophie?"

"Is it going to be dangerous?"

"No, if you cooperate. Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Yes, but what?" She asked, curious.

"You won't like it."

"Please tell me."

Emery sighed. "Today we will have to ask you to teleport."

 _-FLASH!-_

"How was your last ability session?" Laieen asked as Sophie stumbled into her room. "I was super worried the councillors would ask you to do something dangerous."

"It was nothing." Sophie mumbled. Laieen eyed her skeptically.

"Just- I'll tell you later." Sophie murmured. She was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. Laieen helped her onto the bed.

"It was just annoying." Sophie assured her best friend, already drifting into sleep.

"Okay. Promise to tell me when you wake up, okay?"

"Okayyy." Sophie's voice was getting slurry.

"Good night." Laieen whispered, gently pulling the blankets up to Sophie's chin. Sophie just had time to see her friend close the door before everything went black.

 _-FLASH!-_

"DON'T!" Sophie yelled and wrapped her arms around Laieen, shielding her from the lashing ropes. Cursing, the cloaked figure raised his arms and the ropes curled around Sophie instead, binding her tightly in place without any space to move. Realization dawned on her.

 _He's a telepath, too. He can use telekinesis._

Before Sophie had any time to react, black ropes appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Laieen, too, tightening at her stomach.

Laieen moaned and doubled over in pain. The cloaked figure didn't loosen the ropes, but held them tighter. The ropes dug into Laieen's stomach and she was dragged over to the jagged stone platform.

"No!" Sophie screamed as the cloaked figure grabbed Laieen and forced her head back. Sophie struggled against the ropes binding her, but it was no use. She watched helplessly as her new enemy tipped the small bottle, glowing with firelight, and poured the contents into the forced-open mouth of her best friend.

* * *

 **Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Sorry for ending that right there when everything would change... and that wasn't even the end of the chapter... •_•**

 **But as I didn't yet write like half of Chapter Four, updates will have to come later. Until then, staayyyyy tuuunnned!**

 **Love, ~4Ever-Foxfire**


	5. Who Are You?

**Me and my family just took a trip to Hawaii.** **So I'm sorry for the little updates and thanks for not being angry at me!**

 **How were the sneek peeks? I know, the last part was a bit crazy and weird but it WAS NOT the end, so, yeah. ;)**

 **OH, and people who reviewed AFTER August 17, I think Hawaii ruined the receiving system because right now I'm getting emails about reviews that aren't coming out on my review link, so if you reviewed after 8/17, I'll leave answers after I return home!**

 **thelittlepurplepuffball- Thank you! I did have fun! ;)**

 **booksaremylife- Actually, I did leave an answer :) You can go check it out now if you didn't read it before! And yeah, I love Laieen too! And I can totally relate to how you feel about the "new" Sophie! ;D**

 **Guest- Thanks! And the next update... actually... came... NOW! XDXDXD Hope you like this chapter, too!**

 **ALSO, this chapter is rated T. It wouldn't be, but just to be safe, I don't want to scare away any of the readers who won't like the dramatic(in an anguished way) scenes in the last part. So if you don't want to see Sophie and Laieen in a bad, bad, BAD situation, then don't read... ;)**

 **INTRODUCING...**

* * *

 **-4-**

"Whew! It's been a busy day!" Laieen said cheerfully as they walked into the rooms.

"Yeah, a busy day that didn't end yet." Sophie grumbled. "It's, like, seven in the evening already and the Councillors want me to come to their stupid ability session? Ugh!"

"Don't worry, that session is at eight." Laieen told her.

"Eight, and ends at twelve or one or something."

"Still, it's your last session."

"Still, I have yet to do it."

Laieen laughed. "I always appreciate a good comeback, no matter how illogical it is."

 _"What?"_

"Nothing." Laieen giggled. "Just- you know, imagine finishing your session. It'll pass."

"Uh-huh." Sophie said slowly, giving Laieen an "Are you serious?" look.

"Mhm." Laieen chuckled. "It's seven thirty already, so you should start showering and changing. You've got to arrive at exactly... _seven fifty-seven."_

"Cool." Sophie mumbled and staggered through her door.

When Sophie finally arrived at the front gates of the councillors' palace, it was dark and eerily lit with a full moon. Guards let Sophie in and she cautiously entered the spotless room in which the councillors were waiting.

"Uh..." Sophie cleared her throat. The councillors hadn't noticed her entrance. They were debating hotly in hushed tones, shaking their heads and making irritated gestures.

"No!" She heard one councillor saying.

"Why not? It's perfectly stable."

"But... what about her safety?"

"We can make sure she is safe."

"But-" Another councillor started.

"No arguments, please. This decision has already been made."

 _Oh, no._ Sophie thought. _This must be bad._

Just then Councillor Emery raised his head and spotted her entering. Gesturing furiously, he made sure all the others had noticed her too, then sat up in his chair, now with all his attention focused on Sophie- and it didn't look happy either. Shivering, Sophie started walking towards her seat.

"Hello, Sophie." Councillor Emery said calmly as she took her seat across from him. He didn't look at all surprised from her hearing their conversation. He looked... determined.

Sophie tried to brush off the few specks of glitter that her hair was still dotted with from the party.

"I see you have been... busy." Emery said quietly.

Sophie blushed. Next to Emery, the rest of the councillors were sitting in identical chairs, all looking intently at Sophie and making her feel _extremely_ uncomfortable. "I- uh, I went to this party at Foxfire and I-"

"I have already been informed." Emery said. "Shall we start, then?"

"Y-yes." Sophie mumbled. "I mean, um, okay." Ability sessions with the councillors had never been comfortable.

"So today is the last session." Emery said. "Apart from all your other abilities, we have not been able to find a single one more. So I expect you to try your best today, okay?"

"Okay." Sophie said, shifting in her seat. Ugh, why did they have to be so formal?

"So today we are trying something different." Emery told her, glancing at the other councillors. "It will be something we have never tried before."

"Oh. Um, okay."

"Are you sure you can handle this, Sophie?"

"Is it going to be dangerous?"

"No, if you cooperate. Are you sure you can handle this?"

"Yes, but what?" She asked, curious.

"You won't like it."

"Please tell me."

Emery sighed. "Today we will have to ask you to teleport."

"Oh! Um... really?" Sophie was trying hard to hide her panic. _Teleporting?_ Why was this needed? Why were the councillors willing to risk Sophie's life for the particular session? Surely they knew that the slightest harm of Sophie would make their reputation plummet...?

Emery sighed. "You can see we have been debating over this subject. But yes, we must ask you to teleport and use your other abilities at the same time. To see if that is possible."

"I don't even know if I can."

"That's exactly why we're doing this. The others were concerned about your possible distraction, but I believe you can..?"

"Yes- but..."

"Let's do this, Sophie." Emery said quietly.

"O-okay."

They went outside, the councillors murmuring intently among themselves and Sophie shivering with her arms around herself. When they got to a cliff- one that didn't look that intimidatingly high but still frightening, Emery turned to look at Sophie.

"You can have a try now. So... Sophie, all you have to do is to jump off the edge of the cliff, then teleport back to the exact place here while attempting to use your abilities. That way we can continue, okay?"

To Sophie it sounded like, "You can start doing hazardous things now. So... Sophie, all you have to do is to walk right off of a dangerous cliff, then might or might not teleport while using your abilities. That way we can continue the fatal experiment, okay?"

But Sophie just said, "Okay."

She looked down at the vast cliffside that loomed before her.

 _Here goes nothing._

Sophie jumped off the edge of the cliff, her eyes closed tightly shut.

As she plummeted, Sophie opened the portal with the sound of thunder and was immediately swallowed by inky grayish black. Focusing on the task that lay before her, she started to transmit furiously to Emery.

 _I'm in the portal right now... I don't know if I can do this... I'm opening the portal now... I'm trying my best, so... The portal opened..._

Sophie collapsed on the ground and looked up to see the portal slamming shut.

"Sophie? Sophie!" Footsteps neared her. Sophie couldn't concentrate, the blast of thunder still ringing loudly in her ears. Her mind was racing but her thoughts seemed sluggish. She closed her eyes.

"Sophie! SOPHIE!"

She jerked awake. "Wha- what- why?"

"Goodness, I thought you were dead!" A female councillor said, her hands clasped over her chest. Emery approached with a grim expression on his face.

"This experiment has shaken you badly. We must take you to Elwin immediately."

"But it- it worked, right?"

"It did. And we are glad it did. But right now we must hail Elwin." He hastily took out his Imparter, hailed Elwin, and shouted into the screen.

"Elwin! We need you, immediately! To the Farside Cliff!"

A few minutes later, Sophie found herself lying on the soft white sheets of the Healing Center's bed. Elwin stood hovering worriedly beside her, flashing a green orb around her face and frowning to himself.

"Sophie? Are you okay?"

"Yea- yeah. I think so."

"You lost a lot of cells, you know."

"I _faded?"_

"Yes, you did. I'm afraid the force of the mental stress caused your body to react this way. But I'm sure you'll recover soon enough." He took out his Imparter. "I'll contact the Silver Towers. You can recover there, and I'll be at Foxfire anyway. I heard you have a lot of work to do."

"Yes- who told you that?"

Elwin smiled. "A friend of yours."

"Laieen?"

"No."

"There's no one else but Laieen!"

"Actually, there is. A young man by the name Dizznee, I think."

 _"Dex?"_

"I believe you are in one of the same classes with him?"

"No- yes- kind of. I mean, if lunch counts as a class- he sits in the table right next to ours- I think he overheard me tell Laieen about my overloaded homework."

"That is a relief, then. I think you should go now, though. You have tons of homework, remember?"

"Why did you have to remind me?" Sophie grumbled, swinging her legs off the bed.

Elwin smiled. "I guess I do need a bit fun now and then." He winked at Sophie as she left.

After Sophie entered her room, she was immediately bombed by endless questions by her best friend.

"How was your last ability session?" Laieen asked as Sophie stumbled into her room. "I was super worried the councillors would ask you to do something dangerous."

"It was nothing." Sophie mumbled. She was so tired. Laieen eyed her skeptically.

"Just- I'll tell you later." Sophie murmured. She was so tired she could hardly keep her eyes open. Laieen helped her onto the bed.

"It was just annoying." Sophie sleepily assured her best friend, already drifting into sleep.

"Okay. Promise to tell me when you wake up, okay?"

"Okayyy." Sophie's voice was getting slurry.

"Oh- but did you get a new ability?"

"No. Yes. Maybe. I'll tell you later, okay?"

"Okay. Good night." Laieen whispered, gently pulling the blankets up to Sophie's chin. Sophie just had time to see her friend close the door before everything went black.

That night Sophie dreamed of churning black seas and portals slamming shut. She twisted and turned, trying to break free, but ropes bound her and a gag was pushed into her mouth. Somewhere she dimly heard Laieen scream. Suddenly Mr. Forkle loomed in front of her with the needle, and her throat erupted into a thousand blisters again, like she'd just swallowed the bottle of Limbium. Colorful pebbles hit her back, exploding with a series of BANG!s- blinding her, choking her- until everything went black all over again.

"S-sophie?" She woke up with hot sunlight seeping in through her eyelids. She tried to sit up and rub her eyes, but she couldn't. She looked down to see herself bound with ropes. _What in the world is happening?_ She thought wildly.

Sophie blearily looked around, then stopped when she saw her best friend, crying and bound just like her, propped up on the side of what looked like a cave wall. "Laieen?"

"SOPHIE! I thought you would never wake up!" Laieen sobbed. "We were kidnapped in the night. I heard noises and woke up. This cloaked man came in, and he tied us up, and he forced this thing down your throat and you started coughing and gagging like crazy but you didn't wake up and I screamed your name but you still didn't- and he made this gesture with his arms and somehow made you open a portal and bring us here and now we're never going to see the daylight again!"

"I- I took us here?"

"It wasn't your fault, he made you do it!"

"But why did it ha-"

"Don't speak." A voice said. Sophie and Laieen gasped as shadows started creeping up towards them. A cloaked man stood at the entrance of the cave. Only his creepy, smiling mouth could be seen.

"Come." He made a movement with his arms and, like Laieen had said, they were instantly dragged out of the cave and to the foot of a jagged stone platform. The sky was an inky black, and the same churning waves surrounded them on what appeared to be a small, rocky island. "What are you doing?" Sophie whispered.

"What I know I should do." He replied, then ropes appeared, hovering in the air and zooming towards an already tied up Laieen. Lightning cut across the sky.

"DON'T!" Sophie yelled and wrapped her arms around Laieen, shielding her from the lashing ropes. Cursing, the cloaked figure raised his arms and the ropes curled around Sophie instead, binding her tightly in place without any space to move. Realization dawned on her.

 _He's a telepath, too. He can use telekinesis._

Before Sophie had any time to react, black ropes appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around Laieen, too, tightening at her stomach.

Laieen moaned and doubled over in pain. The cloaked man didn't loosen the ropes, but held them tighter. The ropes dug into Laieen's stomach and she was dragged over to the jagged stone platform.

"No!" Sophie screamed as the cloaked figure grabbed Laieen and forced her head back. Sophie struggled against the ropes binding her, but it was no use. She watched helplessly as her new enemy tipped the small bottle, glowing with firelight, and poured the contents into the forced-open mouth of her best friend.

A silent moment passed where nothing could be heard besides Sophie's sobbing and the churning of waves out at sea. But soon they were all drowned out by the violent gasps that seemed to rack Laieen's body.

"Laieen! No!" Sophie started forward, but the man raised his arm and an invisible force knocked her over. Sophie stared helplessly at her choking friend.

"Finally." The man smiled once more. Sophie wanted to tear the insane smirk off his face and throw it in the black ocean. "Finally his plan worked."

"Whose plan?" Sophie hissed. "Who plans to kidnap an unsuspecting girl and force her to drink something unknown to any?"

"Oh, Sophie Foster." He said. "You have gone through so much, yet still the world's many evils continue to frighten you."

"I will never be oblivious to actions like this."

"Of course not." He smirked again. "How disappointed you will be when you learn that this is not about you. It's about your... friend."

"Laieen!"

"Yes. Laieen. You see, when the Neverseen tried to get you, they were doing it for many good reasons. And, at first, you were our target, too. But you have learned much from the Neverseen. You've seen too much. You know too much. You are too much to take in without risking defeat."

"Oh? So you're acting like cowards and taking the more easy target now?"

"No. We're being smart and taking the actions that will bring us a surer success."

"You're insane." She whispered.

"At first I thought what I did was insane too. But he has many intentions and I have come to believe in them. He has called me a dimwitted fool, he has threatened me often- but we both know that no matter what, I will always be his loyal assistant."

"Who- is- HE?!" Sophie shouted. "Tell me who he is!"

He chuckled. "If you are thinking about tracking him down, I'd better tell you that he is undefeatable. The only one who might have been able to defeat him is your friend Laieen, since she drank the Firelight- but since she isn't a Phisonipath, she can't either."

Just then Laieen made a violent choking noise. Sophie whipped around to face her. "Laieen? Laieen!"

For just a moment, Sophie thought her friend was calling her name back, fully back and unharmed. But her hopes sank deep below the dark surface of the sea when her friend- her best friend that she wouldn't trade anything for- opened her now fiery red eyes.

The new Laieen looked at Sophie, her eyes large and unblinking, and opened her mouth. She made a croaking sound.

"La- Laieen?" Sophie asked worriedly, stepping forward. This time the crazy man didn't stop her.

Laieen stared back at her. She didn't say anything.

"Laieen!" Sophie tried harder. _"Laieen!"_

And then Laieen spoke. She blinked her fire-lit eyes for the first time and spoke.

"Yes?"

"Laieen!" Sophie felt a smile slowly lighting her face. "You're not hurt!" She felt elated. Laieen was safe! Life was finally going on the right path! She knew it would someday!

Then again, Sophie's life had never been so lucky, had it?

"I'm sorry, but-" Laieen's voice shook a little.

"What?" Sophie asked, her smile fading. "Why, Laieen, why?"

"I know you know me." Laieen said slowly. "And- and I don't mind. But- can I ask- " She looked up at Sophie.

Her one best friend in the whole wide world looked up at Sophie and asked,

"Who are you?"

* * *

 **AHHHH! Cliffhangers! Yay!(I mean, YAY because cliffhangers always mean there's another chapter! At least in my story!)**

 **I know, I'm sorry, but I couldn't help it! Plus, Shannon Messenger does it too! I loved and hated(really, both) what she did at the end of Lodestar! Like, seriously? I hope Nightfall comes out soon ;) It better be... :0 But if you're reading this AFTER it came out, then, well, you're LUCKY, because right now I'm so desperate!**

 **So, guys, hope you liked this chapter! We're in Hawaii right now, in Oahu, so... yeah. I know what happened to Laieen was cruel, but... isn't it a little bit exciting, too? At least it is for me!**

 **Thanks for reading, and hope you'll like the next chapter!**

 **~4Ever-Foxfire**


	6. Your Loss

**Aaaaaand I'm back! :)  
**

 **Sorry for that long wait, guys, a MONTH! I'm so sorry. But I experienced Writer's Block for the first time in my life and it's TERRIBLE. So I'll try and make up for this, okay?**

 **glitterbutt11- Thank you so much!**

 **VerdiTheTRex- Thanks, I'm updating now, so yeah.**

 **booksaremylife- YAS! CLIFFHANGERS WIN! Riiight? XD**

 **Darling01- Thank you! You just made my day! I know, poor Laieen! *tries to forget that I'm technically the one who did this to her***

 **INTRODUCING...**

* * *

 **-5-**

Sophie stared at her best friend. Did she just hear her correctly? Was this part of the potion? Loss of memory? Did... did Laieen really not remember her? _  
_

A terrible silence followed as Sophie and Laieen stared at each other.

Suddenly the cloaked man spoke up. "Well, well." He said, smirking. "Now who's the clueless one, eh?" He laughed and stretched a hand towards Laieen. "Let us go, Firelight. You are the thing we've all been waiting for. Show time's over!"

"No!" Sophie stepped forward. "You can't do this to her! You can't do this to me!"

"Oh?" The man's smile faded as he glowered at Sophie. "And what, Sophie Foster, makes you think that you don't deserve this?" He scowled. "You were the reason why we left the Neverseen! You were the reason why we had to undergo such hardships- when the world was just above our grasp! You were the reason why everything- every single thing that took years for us to plan- turned into nothing!"

Sophie could hear Laieen gasp behind her.

"And, Foster, your best friend also happened to be one of our... plans. We planned her life for her before she was born- and don't think we're inhumane, isn't that exactly what the Black Swan did to you, too? We planned her whole life- starting off as a normal elvin girl, born as the only child of her family- her parents were our choice- and raised until we toggled her abilities and made her a Pryokinetic. Oh, were her parents traumatized. When they left her in the Lost Cities to be raised in a human family, we made sure that her next ability would appear when both her parents were in the same room. She ran away before she could get arrested for making her mother faint- and now she doesn't have a good impression of life! She'll be willing to take whatever measures to change that, even if it involves forgetting her best friend. We didn't really have that in mind, but then for a little twist I decided that I'd rig the Foxfire charts and make sure you two got in the same dorm. Just to make your life a bit more miserable for you, Foster, when we part."

"That's that's insane." Sophie whispered. "You're insane."

"And what if I am?" The man smiled. "And what if I am, Sophie Elizabeth Foster? What can you do now? Bound in ropes on a deserted island with nobody there to rescue you. What can you do? Are you the "heroic girl" that everybody has in mind now? No! Now who's the helpless one? Me? No! It's you, Sophie Foster, you! And by the time you finally manage to get off this island- it takes over a hundred years for these ropes to break, by the way- we'll already have the world for ours. And your little friend will be behind it all, so you can't reveal the truth- or risk losing a friend. They'll send her to Exile, you know." He started to cackle. "Now, Laieen, dear, let's go." He grabbed Laieen's hand, and with a burst of lightning, they were gone.

Sophie didn't care. From the moment the cloaked man had taken Laieen away, she struggled inside her ropes and stood up shakily, still tightly bound. "You don't know me." She said quietly, panting heavily. "You don't know what I can do. Seems like Exillum did teach me a few tricks." She blasted the ropes out of her way.

"You can't take Laieen away from me." Sophie started to walk towards the edge of the island. "You can't take her away. She's my best friend- the new girl you made doesn't have her memory. She's still in there, somewhere- if only I could find her." She reached the edge of a cliff. "But what you don't know is, I can. I can stop her from taking over the world for you. And I will, I promise."

With that, Sophie jumped off the cliff and opened the portal just before she hit the churning black waves.

Once she was securely in the gray void, she searched wildly for her dorm. If she was to try and go stop that man from taking over the world, she should do some other things first- like alert the Councillors. She opened the portal again with a crash like thunder- and found herself on top of her bed, clean and undisturbed, waiting for her to sleep on top of it.

But she wouldn't. She couldn't, not when Laieen was in danger.

"First we need to get your searching pearl." Sophie said to herself. "Then we'll use it to locate you, Laieen- then we won't get you immediately because the man will know. Once we have your location in check we'll do other things- and I'll have to tell Rester, Laieen was like his younger sister. And he's the best Technopath around- maybe not Dex, but NO YOU'RE NOT FALLING INTO CHILDHOOD MEMORIES AGAIN, SOPHIE. After Rester we'll tell the Councillors- not Emery, not for now, he'll try and take drastic measures. We'll find a nice, quiet way to let him find out, then we'll pack up, leave Foxfire, and search for Laieen ourselves. And only me, not Rester- he needs to keep charge of what the Councillors do. Or I could stay in Foxfire and work undercover." She thought for a moment. "Undercover's better, I guess. Not to start Grady and Edaline worrying again. And why am I talking to myself?"

Sophie looked around at her room. She had a lot of things to do overnight- but she'd do it, every single thing needed to set the path for saving Laieen, until she slept. She would. It was her duty.

 _I'm coming, Laieen- don't you worry a bit._


	7. Serendipity

**A/N: I know, people. I know I left you guys for so long- over five months- without an update. I am so sorry! Just please let this selfish j3rk continue her life.. I am so sorry.. I understand if nobody wants to read this anymore..**

 **Thing is, my life's been pretty crazy for the past few months, and RL caused so many bad things to happen online- like severe writer's block, for instance. My writings might not seem the way they usually are in this chapter- but I hope you guys read it till the end! Please give me a review of what you think!**

 **Love, 4Ever-Foxfire**

* * *

 _"Once you choose hope, anything's possible." ~Christopher Reeve_

 **-6-**

"Rester! RESTER!" Sophie yelled as she frantically ran down the stairs and over to where the "Prank Pals" were having an intense conversation midst the crowds. "Hirlen?" For once she didn't care if Dex was there. She grabbed startled Hirlen's shoulders and shook them vigorously. "Where's Rester?"

"Uh.." Hirlen looked flustered as he looked around the crowd wildly. "I have no idea, if you get what I mean- He could be anywhere at this moment." Then he seemed to spot something. "Oh, there he is. Talking with the weird shadow boy." Sophie immediately let go of Hirlen's shoulders, and the Prank Pal exhaled, looking relieved not to be held captive by an apparently crazy girl with dried tears on her face. Dex kept staring at her like she was the strangest person he'd ever met(which was probably true, Sophie thought.)

"SERIOUSLY? RESTER!" Sophie marched across the hall to where Rester was standing, muttering something furiously while Tam glared viciously at his opponent. Linh hovered uneasily a few feet behind her brother, glancing wistfully from time to time at the colorful pool next to her.

As she got closer, Sophie could hear their conversation.

"I said, don't get anywhere close to my sister!"

"Good, because I DIDN'T! I was looking for Laieen-"

"Yeah, _Laieen_ makes it okay for you to go around talking to random people and stalking them like a weirdo, is that what you're saying?"

"No! I never _stalked_ the girl! I simply-"

"Oh yeah?" Tam nudged his sister. "So now she's _the girl?"_ He smirked. "How impolite."

"THAT'S NOT THE PROBLEM, YOU IDIOT! As I said, I was looking for Laieen-"

"Whoever this Laieen girl is, she's definitely not Linh, so why are you suddenly poking her back and saying things?"

"I THOUGHT SHE WAS LAIEEN, DUDE!" Rester's face was redder than Edaline's carnissa root mallowmelt.

"I know for a fact that my sister doesn't have "fiery red" hair, so your description doesn't fit-"

"I KNOW THAT! Linh was just wearing similar colors to Laieen- blue- so I momentarily thought it was her!"

Tam narrowed his eyes. "How do you know her name?

"Because some people care, unlike you." Rester fired back.

Tam was about to say something when Sophie interrupted the fight. "Guys!" She weaved through the mass of elves and glowered at the enraged Rester. "It's not the right place OR time to act this way! Laieen's been kidnapped!"

"WHAT?!" Rester turned to stare at her. "Come on! Nothing's been going on as I planned today, and now this deluded imbecile is squawking away about incredibly unimportant matters!(Tam growled at that comment.) It's impossible to make the situation even worse, so please don't prank me. I'm not in the mood for anything. Go prank Hirlen if you wish- but not me!"

Sophie gave him a look, and when Rester realized that claiming that he wasn't going to fall for anything wouldn't make it any better, his eyes widened and he whipped around, accidentally hitting Tam in his frenzied haste.

Which, of course, totally unloosened the already unloosened boy.

"You've got to be kidding me! Seriously!" Tam shouted at Rester. "I was patient during all your stupid rants about me being an idiot, but _do I also have to be patient as you punch me whichever way you like?_ No thanks- I'm out of here! Linh, let's go. There's not point in staying for this weird party anyway."

Tam turned around, expecting Linh to follow him...

...But she didn't.

"Linh?" Tam sighed, obviously annoyed. "I really don't want to stay with this _deluded imbecile,_ so I _think_ we should _go_. Why is the colored water so important to you?"

After impatient seconds, Linh spoke up, her voice as quiet and as calm as always but with more determination than Sophie had ever seen in the Girl of Many Floods. "It's not the water. It's not because I like the party, either. In fact, I'm so tired- I want to go back to our dormitories."

"Then why?" Tam asked, irritated. Linh raised her head, meeting Tam's silvery blue eyes with her equally silvery blue ones.

"Because I decided that I'm not going to be part of your fight anymore." Linh looked at Sophie and gave her a small, hopeful smile. "Because I realized that the reason why we parted that night was because everyone was too afraid to acknowledge the truth."

For the first time in two years, Sophie felt like a stormy cloud was lifting and the sky was bright blue all over again.

"Really?" She asked, her voice trembling a little. "You really think so?"

Linh smiled even wider. "Of course I do. Maybe Tam doesn't- but at least I'll always know that we were meant to be together."

Sophie felt elated. She so wanted to believe it was coming true- and there she was, the proof, right in front of her at that very moment.

Rester's confused voice roused her from her trance. "So are we going to find Laieen or not?"

"'Course we are," Sophie told him, grinning. "And now that I have one more friend on my side- we can find Laieen in no time!"

"Me, I don't like those happy reunions with teary eyes and no serious atmosphere at all." Tam grumbled, and Sophie was suddenly reminded of Grumpy Smurf- one of the little blue guys humans loved. She burst out laughing.

"What?" Tam asked, glaring.

"Nothing," Sophie replied, wiping her eyes. "Just- let's go find Laieen."

"Whatever." Tam rolled his eyes. "I hope I'm allowed to _not_ go find this Laieen." He started up the stairs- when his sister grabbed his shirt.

"No way!" Linh tugged at her twin brother's arm. " 'If I'm going, you're going.' That's what you always told me. Now I believe it's my turn to tell you that, _brother."_

* * *

 **A/N: Now wasn't that awesome! I loved how Sophie and Linh got back together- and believe it or not, I also kinda loved how Tam held back. It makes the whole situation more natural(it wouldn't be in any way natural if they all apologized and were happy in mere seconds) and expresses his personality correctly(at least that's what I think). Anyway, I'm so, so, sorry guys- I hope I'll be able to make up for not updating in months.**

 **I'm not sure if I can update regularly these days too- but at least once a week, I'll try my best! And I won't hold you back for so long like I just did...**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review, comment and reply on whichever thing you'd like, and tell me what you think will happen next!**

 **Love,**

 **~4Ever-Foxfire**


	8. A Moment of Sudden Revelation

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm baaack! Did any of you miss me? *uncomfortable silence* Ohh. Um, okay. I get it. XD**

 **Anyway, thanks Linh Song(Guest) for reviewing the chapter! I'm so glad you liked it. It made me feel so happy! Other People, please review and reply, too! XO  
**

 **Without further ado...**

* * *

 _"You must not only aim right, but draw the bow with all your might." ~Henry David_

 **-7-**

"I can't believe it!" Linh exclaimed happily, twirling drops of water around Sophie's bedroom. "We're finally back together!"

Tam mumbled something inaudible.

"What?" Rester and Linh asked at the same time.

"Nothing," Tam grumbled. "You do realize that this is a dormitory in the _Girls'_ Section, right?"

"Of course I do." Rester scoffed. "I come here all the time. Mostly for Laieen, partly for Sophie's bedroom passcode problems. Laieen keeps getting through it- and Sophie keeps telling me to fix it- but then again, you can't ignore the pleads of your adopted little sister, so sometimes I loosen the whole thing-"

 _"What in the world, Rester!"_

He shrugged. "She told me to do it. Don't blame me."

"Yeah, don't blame him." someone said.

"Wait.. What? Who are you?" Sophie asked, staring at the direction the voice came from. "You're a Vanisher, right? How and why did you get in here?"

"Calm down, dudet." Hirlen grinned at Sophie mischievously as he emerged from the shadows. "I had some of Dizznee's invisibility potion, and.. Yeah. He's a total genius. Could probably beat you and me together, Rester."

"I doubt it," Rester told him. "Totally."

"Well, disagree as much as you'd like." Hirlen told him. "But honestly, I've never seen someone as good as HIM. His dad runs Slurps and Burps and he ended up learning all these cool potion tricks AND getting his Technopath powers. And I was like, that's crazy dude. And he was like, no problem, and then I said-"

"Can you please be quiet?" Hirlen looked startled by Sophie's sudden outburst. "Um, okay." He muttered, walking over to Rester and standing by his side.

"Sorry," Sophie whispered. "I just have so much to think of right now and-" She groaned, clutching her head like it was about to burst at any instant.

"Whoa. Calm down." Tam glared at Sophie's forehead as though he actually suspected it might start malfunctioning. "Everything's fine. Let's just find that Laieen girl and get out of here."

"Uh-oh," Hirlen warned, just as Rester erupted.

"FIRST YOU SAY YOU DON'T CARE AND NOW YOU SAY EVERYTHING'S FINE?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, BOY!"

"Excuse me?" Tam spat. "Did you just call me... A _boy?"_

 _"YES I DID!"_ Rester yelled. "SO WHAT IF I DID? It doesn't compare to the TERRIBLE THINGS YOU DID, BOY!"

Tam sighed in defeat and went back to sulking in the shadows.

"Anyway," Sophie told the group, "We have to make a plan. So far I concluded that we should _not_ tell the Councillors, as that will cause a certain uproar and innocent people getting sent to Exile- so we need to keep this project in hiding. Also, I decided to call this Project Firelight."

"Why?" Linh asked, curious.

"Just..." Sophie felt unsure. "While I was teleporting back here, I had this feeling.. I don't know. It was sort of like a flashback, but it wasn't from my own memories. I know I have a lot of memories that aren't mine.. But Project Moonlark is gone now. And the thing felt bigger, louder and more realistic than ever."

"What was it about?" Rester questioned.

"I.. I don't know. Just this feeling I can't explain.." Sophie sighed, lost for words. "It.. It had this young man standing in a room. He probably wasn't young, since he would have been an elf, but something.. Just felt different. As though the man was both young and old at the same time."

"How's that possible?" Hirlen asked. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense."

"Exactly." Sophie exhaled. "The man was holding a bottle.. A vial.. That looked exactly like the one he gave Laieen." She looked at Rester. "I told you about the vial, right?"

"Yeah," Rester scratched his head. "I can't stop worrying.. About what'll happen."

"Ne neither," Sophie told him. "So he was smiling at the bottle like it was the best thing that ever existed in his life, and he said.. He said, 'Behold the Firelight'. I have no idea what that's supposed to mean, but I think we can all easily guess that it's not a good thing."

"So what's the plan?" Linh asked. "How are we going to rescue your friend?"

"That's what I was thinking about." Sophie told her. "Problem is, the possibilities are endless when our choices are limited."

"We need more friends and helpers." Hirlen immediately replied. "People who can help. Like Dex Dizznee."

"Please not him!" Sophie and Linh said in unison.

"Not that one." Tam agreed.

"Why?" Hirlen asked. "I know something's wrong, so don't keep lying to me. When I saw you two fighting, Shade, I told Dex that you two were crazy and he said, "Please don't talk about him." and I was like, so puzzled and I told him some more about how you were so weird-looking with your bangs and-"

"Thanks for the compliment," Tam growled. Hirlen chose to ignore him.

"-he was like, "Nooooo." and he ran away." Hirlen glanced at the twins and at Sophie. "Did something happen between you guys?"

"A lot of things we don't want to talk about." Tam muttered.

"I have to agree with Tam." Linh said.

"You _have to?"_ Tam asked. "So you don't want to?"

"That's not the point!" Linh told him. "The point is, something happened and it's not a good something. We might tell you later if things smoothen out."

"We might?" Sophie looked at Linh. "You might tell him?"

"If we get better," Linh assured her. "But not till we do."

"Fine," Hirlen sat on Sophie's bed(without permission). "So when will we actually do something?"

"Now," Sophie decided. "I'm going to try and get us back to the place I was. We might be able to find something, like a clue."

"Okay," Rester agreed. "But we better being weapons. I can't rescue Laieen when I myself need to be rescued."

"And reinforcements," Hirlen told them. "I'm not leaving without at least three of them."

"Three?" Sophie asked, perplexed. "How are we going to find three people who are both willing to help us _and_ have enough powers to?"

Tam sighed. "I know a way we can. But I'm not sure you'll like it."

"What?"

"Our old friends." Linh realized, grabbing her brother's arm. "We could ask them."

Sophie was taken aback. Her old friends? No, they weren't her old friends. They were her ex-friends, which was a big difference. She tried to look for an excuse not to ask them, but...

Sophie could see that there were no other options. There had been a good reason why they had been friends all those years ago- they were, simply, perfect for each other. Like they had been made for each other. As cliché as it might have seemed, it was true.

Finally- finally, after two whole years- Sophie was truly able to accept that fact.

And it made her happier than ever.

Sophie took hold of Tam's other arm. As reluctant as he looked- Sophie could feel the eagerness radiating off Tam Song. They were ready. Ready to start a new life.

"What are we waiting for?" Tam asked, surprising everyone. "Let's go find our friends!"

* * *

 **A/N: Whoo-hoo! They're together and so they're invincible! Yaaay! Lol XD**

 **Anyway, thanks everyone who viewed this chapter and YES YOU CAN PM ME NOW! YAY! My laptop now receives PMs successfully. So message me as much as you'd like! PMs can include suggestions for my story, thoughts on what will come next, or simply chatting.**

 **Thanks, 4Ever-Foxfire**


	9. Reunion

**A/N: What's up? Anybody read my past chapters? Well, I just checked and A LOT of people did! Thanks and here are my replies for user(and guest) reviews!**

 **Linh Song: Thank you! I'm glad you think it's great- I was afraid my writing skills had... "evaporated" during the time I was inactive.. but I hope not! Again, thanks!**

 **WildPegasus7: I'm so happy you liked it! Thanks for** **t** **he aw** **e-** **mazing post! XOXO**

 **readuile: Aww, thanks! You're a wonderful reader and I'm so happy you liked my story! Love from 4Ever-Foxfire! ^3^~  
**

 **INTRODUCING...**

* * *

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. Albert Einstein  
Read more at: topics/moving

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. Albert Einstein  
Read more at: topics/moving

 _Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving._ _~Albert Einstein_

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. Albert Einstein  
Read more at: topics/moving

 **-8-  
**

"Biana? BIANA!" Fitz sounded vexed as he banged open the door. "The party's over and-" He stopped short, staring at the little group that was huddled in the middle of Hirlen's room. "Biana..?"

"What?" Biana glared at her brother as she crossed her arms. "I'm not leaving. Get out of here."

"I..." Fitz sounded unsure as he looked first at Rester, then at Hirlen, the twins, Sophie... and finally coming to rest on Dex, who was glaring at Fitz with such ferocity that he took a few steps backward, almost knocking into a decorative plant behind him.

"Tam?" Fitz sounded almost pleading as he looked at the Shade. "What's going on in here?"

"Why are you asking _him?"_ Biana spat bitterly. "Him, and not your own sister?"

"I did ask you," Fitz spat, "and I _clearly remember_ that you refused to reply."

"Oh?" It was Dex who stepped up now. "Now you're taking the angered side, _Wonderboy?_ Who do you think should be the furious one? You? Definitely not! You were one of the people who threw us away like trash and left us rotting like nobodies. Well, for your dear information, _we are somebodies, too._ You and Keefe aren't the only ones who matter enough- we all do. Now I understand why our friendship turned out to be so fragile." Dex pointed at Fitz accusingly. "There were some _specific_ people who decided they were too good for the rest of us."

"Of course not!" Fitz fired back. "Who was the one who invited you on an overnight sleepover because he was afraid we were falling apart? Who was the one who spent hours picking out the perfect thank-you cards for _every single one of you_ because he wanted you guys to know that _he cared?_ And before you say anything, _who was the one who DEFENDED YOU ALL in that DISASTROUS meeting because HE WANTED YOU BACK ON HIS SIDE?_ Me! You could count back _three months_ from our fight till the day after the _FIRST FIGHT EVER_ and see me worrying over what to say in that MEETING because I wanted us to _fight n_ _o more_ _._ Count back two years from now and you'll _finally_ see how all I cared for back then was _US._ A whole big part of my life was used up while I _spilled time and hard work_ all over the place because I wanted us to be forever. _I wanted us to be forever!_ So don't go around saying I never cared, or I'll rip that mouth right off your smug little face."

"Whoa," Hirlen set a hand on Fitz's shoulder and the fuming elf shrugged it off with a growl. "Calm down, dude."

"THAT'S ALL YOU EVER SAY!" Fitz glared at his friend. "I DON'T NEED TO WORRY, YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY, BLAH BLAH _BLAH_ _BLAH BLAH_. WELL, I'LL TELL YOU SOMETHING- YES YOU _DO_ NEED TO WORRY. I WORRIED _SO MUCH_ ABOUT OUR _FUTURE_ AND IT _STILL FELL APART!"_

"Fitz!" Biana glared at him. "You're shaking us all up again. Your presence does no good to us right now- so can you _please get out of here?"_

"No, Biana." Sophie's voice was barely more than a whisper, but everyone turned to stare at her. She blushed, embarrassed- but she couldn't back up now. Not when her friends were relying on her at that very moment.

She was ready to make up for all the mistakes she'd made.

"Fitz is right," Sophie felt sick just saying these words- it felt as though Biana and Dex would turn on her just by that statement. Instead she was met with silence.

Somehow, that felt even worse.

"Even as we fought- even as we struggled to maintain our balance, I could see all of you- _all_ of you- trying your best to keep up what we already had. We were falling apart. Our friendship was being destroyed. We were no longer the _"us"_ we used to be. But..." Sophie looked each and every former friend in the eye. "We all had a slight knowledge of that. We were desperate. We no longer felt needed by our friends anymore.. and that made us even more miserable than we had ever been." Sophie paused, then continued. "So we tried. We tried _so hard._ I remember stumbling into Slurps and Burps to buy a potion- any potion at hand- that would help to restore our friendship. I also remember running into Biana there.. and Linh, and Dex- who was helping his dad sort up the potions that would make him more.. likeable or something."

At that the embarrassed Technopath buried his face in his hands, his ears turning a bright shade of pink.

"Every single one of us tried. But we had been too afraid.. too afraid to accept the truth." Sophie smiled at Linh. "We were falling apart. Yes, we were. If we just had accepted that, maybe we could have been more reasoning.. we could have negotiated on things we wouldn't compromise on.. everything would have gone a tiny bit more smoothly. But we had been together for so long. We'd been sinking into the fact that we were meant to be together... that fact had made us blind to the cold realities that life had presented us."

Sophie took a deep breath. "That was all I had to say. Oh, and also... sorry for running away that night without an explanation. I guess... I guess even I hadn't been brave enough to truly see the truth."

Silence filled the room. Nobody dared to say anything. Nobody dared to say anything and destroy that perfect moment. Until...

Rester started to clap. Seconds later, Linh followed...

...And Sophie found herself in the middle of a room where everybody was applauding her.

* * *

"That was one good speech you gave," Biana told a very flustered Sophie as they rushed down the stairs. "Even better than my brother- and _he_ got the Best Speechwriter prize at that specialized Eternalia kids' meeting when we were young." She wriggled her eyebrows. "When we were young and little Fitzie boy still peed his pants."

 _"Biana!"_ Fitz's face had turned beet red. "I hadn't realized that you were getting even more annoying by the second."

"Oh?" Biana turned to face her brother. "Isn't that what I should be saying?"

"Stop dancing around my words like a baby," Fitz muttered, and before his sister could say anything he sprinted down to Hirlen.

"Ugh, that Fitzroy!" Biana glared at her brother's back. "You're _so_ lucky, Sophie. You don't have any super-annoying siblings who pester you each and every day."

"I heard that!" Fitz called over his shoulder. Biana shrugged as though she couldn't care less. "So what if you did? Do you think I even-"

Sophie abruptly grabbed her shoulder. _"Biana!"_ She hissed, and the startled girl stared at her friend. "What?"

"Someone's coming."

"Who?"

"I don't know,"

"How can you sense that something's coming but not know what it is?"

"Um,"

"Um what?"

 _"Um,_ that actually happens a lot."

"I didn't know that," They reached the bottom of the stairs, where the others were already waiting for them. "But okay." Biana cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled in her brother's ear. "SOMEONE'S COMING! SOPHIE FELT SOMEONE COMING!"

"OW!" Fitz shouted, squeezing his ear and glaring at Biana. "You are _so_ dead."

"Who?" Rester asked, his eyes darting wildly around the party hall filled with the late-night stragglers. "All of the people in here are elves I know. They can't possibly be harmful."

Sophie stared at the walls. "Not exactly harmful. More like.. like someone's trying to prank us or something."

"Prank us?" Dex plunged his hands in his pockets and drew out a big, green vial. "Anti-Prank Potion." He explained. "It's originally supposed to be called Wart-Growing Potion, but they make useful weapons. If you're an experienced pranker you'd know not to mess with anyone holding this vial."

"WRONG!" Everyone in the group screamed as a cloaked figure jumped out of the shadows. Dex tried to pull out the cork, but it seemed to be stuck. "OF COURSE I KNEW ABOUT IT, DIZZNEE! I WAS JUST TOO SMART FOR YOU GUYS!" The walls started spewing out glittery water and the boy inside the dark cloak laughed like a maniac.

"Wait a minute..." Fitz peered at the chuckling elf. "I know that voice-"

"-I think I recognize the face," Biana told him-

"-Keefe?" Dex squeaked, unsure.

"Yo, people," The same, smirking face grinned at them as Keefe pulled the cloak off. "Who missed me?"

His question was met with silence.

"Ouch," Keefe muttered, holding his hands out as if he wanted a group hug. "Come on! Don't be scared! Everyone knows you missed me!"

Fitz looked at his long-lost friend. "We were going to look for you," he told him, "but unfortunately you had to find us first."

"Don't blame me!" Keefe crouched down and looked up at Fitz with puppy eyes. "Leetle Keefe was sad that hees leetle friends had met without heem!"

"Sorry," Sophie mumbled. "But as Fitz said, we were going to look for you."

"That's a relief!" Keefe flashed a smile at them. "Finally! A reunion!"

For a split second, Sophie thought she saw something... off. Normally Keefe would have been carrying a touch of spitefulness, a touch of the boy he used to hide behind his happy mask. But the Keefe in front of her eyes was nothing like the Keefe Sophie knew- yes, he was funny and yes, he had pranked them. But somehow it felt as though...

Sophie's doubtful thoughts were washed away as soon as Keefe tackled them all with the glittery water again. Now she felt guilty for thinking such thoughts about her good friend. He was probably trying his best to make his friends happy, she thought. You can't blame someone for trying their best. We learned that lesson once- we shouldn't let our mistakes repeat.

So she forgot all about what she'd seen and joined the laughing, reunited friends- friends who were finally back together in the same place in two whole years.

 _Now that we have everything we need, let's go find Laieen!_

* * *

 **A/N: Hmm. What do you think?**

 **Sophie's doubts, or Sophie's happiness? Which is the truth?(I think with a reasonable amount of novel-reading experience, some of you just might be able to tell... *meaningful stare* NO SPOILERS! NO SPOILERS!*tries to forget that I love giving spoilers* XD**

 **See you people later! For now.. *POOF***

 ***Disappears in a cloud of glittery smoke***

 ***Smoke turns into letters saying, "TTYL!"***

 ***Smoke disappears too***

 ***Knows that this is totally weird***

 **Still, it's fun! Right?**

 ***Silence***

 **Aww, come on! *Disappears once and for all(at least till the next chapter)***


	10. Wistful Oblivion

**A/N: Yo! How's it going, people? All good? No? Well, it's certainly been a busy day for me so far- let's just hope I have enough energy to walk through the rest of it. XD**

 **Linharvae008: Thanks back to you, for writing that awesome review! I do hope I can keep up what I have so far, if it's good work. XOXO**

 **WildPegasus7: Ahh, I'm so happy! Or maybe I'm just glad I have someone I can terrorize with loads of cliffhangers.. XD And, of course, I'll be updating in a while, I'm certain! ;)**

 **Rebecca: ILYSM, thanks for being an amazing friend and and equally awesome reviewer. Also, *DUN DUN DUN* one of your guesses is right! *Tries not to spoil the whole thing* Anyway.. So glad you liked it! Hearts from Jade!**

 **Guest: Oh my gosh, thanks! Though, why don't you like Laieen? She's, like, my favorite character! Lol Thanks for reviewing! Love, Foxiee**

 ** _SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!_ This chapter is partly in Laieen's Point of View. There will be major depression/loss/frustration from the POV of the "outsider", the "watcher", or, if put directly, the "reader". So try to keep calm as you watch Laieen forgetting her past! It's a challenge- you up to it?**

 **INTRODUCING...**

* * *

 _"The caged bird sings with a fearful trill_

 _Of things unknown but longed for still_

 _And his tune is heard on the distant hill  
_

 _For the caged bird sings of freedom."_

 _I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou_

 _..._

LAIEEN

 _She stared in shock as the cloaked figure walked up to her. She gasped in realization as he forced the vial into her mouth.  
_

 _But when the cool liquid slid down her throat, all she could do was hope Sophie wouldn't be mad at her- mad at her for choosing to follow the person's lead. She hoped, with all her heart, that Sophie would understand._

 _I will die, she thought. And maybe my parents- whoever they are- will finally feel remorse for throwing me away. Leaving me in a human town, in the Forbidden Cities, with no one who could understand me. This is my revenge._

 _And so she didn't fight back._

 _Just for a split second, she realized that her best friend would never understand. Sophie had almost no knowledge of the world she had been trapped in for most of her life. She didn't know that this was finally the freedom Laieen had wished for._

 _Should she refuse the vial? Should she push the man away and fight for her life?_

 _Laieen realized with a pang in her heart that there were more important things in life than sweet, sweet revenge. She might not have a loving family, but she had her foster parents. And Rester. And... she had Sophie._

 _She had to refuse the vial. She had to push the man away and fight for her life... both their lives..._

 _But it was too late. Darkness clouded her vision and Laieen felt herself slipping into a dark void, never to be seen again._

 _ **...**_

"Subject No. 0891," read the label.

Avikka was glad she was finally part of something. After years of trying to fit in, these people had come to rescue her.

"The Revanche"s. The simplicity of the word awed Avikka. It meant _payback,_ in French. Lyon- a city in France- was where Avikka had lived, supposedly. The word also had become the name of the organization.

Everything made sense now.

"Subject No. 0891, arrived at Center Service," the speaker blared loudly in her ears as Avikka ran over to the door. She knew, after two days of life in this place, that her leader would be waiting for her on the other side.

"Avikka Anouilh?" Avikka eagerly opened the door and stepped inside. Her leader never called her by the numbers that clarified who she was. He was nice, he was kind, he was forgiving.

Happiness filled the girl's heart at that thought.

"Yes?"

"You can come sit down."

"Thank you, sir."

"No need to thank me." The man's expression turned serious as he leaned over the desk to look her in the eyes. "Avikka, you know I trust you."

"Y-yes."

"I need you to trust me back, Avikka."

"I trusted you from the start." Avikka smiled hopefully. "I trust you. And I always will."

"I am glad to hear so." Sruthan Pyren smiled at her. He was the kindest person Avikka ever remembered seeing.

And then her trustworthy leader asked her a question.

"Avikka Anouilh, are you ready to take on a challenge?"

...

 _"Don't wait. The time will never be just right." ~Napoleon Hill_

 **-9-**

 _"YES."_

Sophie stopped abruptly when the word slipped out of Keefe's mouth. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing," Keefe quickly replied. "Really."

"Um.. Okay."

"Really! I meant it! I don't know why I said that."

"I believe you, Keefe."

"Good!" Keefe looked relieved as he leaned back further in his seat. "I was worried you'd think I was psychotic or something."

"No, we don't," Fitz assured him. "But then again, why are we talking about unimportant things?"

"Because I don't want any misunderstandings."

 _"Keefe!"_ Sophie snapped, annoyed. "You're not psychotic, insane, mad, deranged, crazed, maniacal, hysterical, any of these things. I get it. We all get it!"

"Ouch," Keefe said, pretending to be hurt. "No need to attack me, people."

"There is a very good need to attack you when you're acting psychotic, insane, mad, deranged, crazed, maniacal, hysterical, and many other things," Tam muttered under his breath.

 _"What_ did you say, Bangs Boy?"

"Nothing," Tam told him, hinting a touch of sarcasm. "Really."

"Stop quoting me!"

"Who said I quoted you? And why would I even try to quote you?" Tam asked, incredulous.

"Because-" Keefe stroked The Hair- "I'm awesome!"

Dex pretended to gag.

Keefe glared and said something that Sophie wasn't sure she wanted to know the meaning of.

"Keefe! That's not nice!" Biana warned.

"Biana's right," Fitz agreed. "You shouldn't go around saying things like that."

"As much as I don't want to, I'll have to agree with Wonderboy."

"Who died and put you in charge?" Keefe bellowed, then sprinted out the room.

Silence took over the formerly exciting atmosphere as the remaining members looked at one another.

"What's wrong with him?" Biana whispered to her brother.

"I have no idea," Fitz whispered back. The others nodded in consent.

Sophie felt terrible. "So what are we going to do?"

"Nothing," Tam replied smugly. "Nobody needs that boy. I told you so."

"Actually, I seem to remember you claiming that he should be our pick," Linh told him.

He scowled. "So what?"

"So I should be invited back in!" Keefe grinned as he came back into the room. "How are you doing, dudes?" He seemed to remember nothing about what had just happened.

"Uh, nice?" Sophie asked incredulously, tugging at a loose eyelash. It had been so long since she'd gotten rid of that habit...

"Yeah, right," Keefe snorted. "You all look like you'd been struck by an angry alicorn."

"THAT would be terrifying, but only if you take out the glitter."

"Biana, this isn't the right time."

"Whatever!"

Rester cleared his throat. The other members of the group realized that they were debating about ridiculous things and turned to him again.

"So," Rester started, "Laieen's gone. And-"

"Don't you think it matters that we don't know who Laieen is?" Keefe interrupted.

"It doesn't matter. We're going to rescue Laieen. End of story." Sophie told him. "And I thought you'd do anything for your friends."

"Of course I will!" Keefe smiled in a smug manner. "You should know better than THAT, Sophie."

"Wait..." Sophie peered at her friend. "Did you just call me Sophie?"

"Oops!" Keefe grinned sheepishly. "Foster. I meant Foster."

"Sophie's fine," Sophie told him. "Just.. it was weird."

"Jeez, it was an accident!" Keefe threw his hands up in the air in mock frustration and walked up to Rester. "So, Techie, what's the plan?"

"Easy," Rester replied. "We need to rescue Laieen. But before that, we have to figure out where she is."

* * *

"Why do we need to move every two weeks?" Avikka complained as she followed her nameless leader up the hill. "Why can't we just stay in one place?"

"You'll begin to think differently when we actually start moving every two weeks," the man told her, opening the obsidian door. "Let's just hope your brain will be fine with this special treatment."

"What kind of-" Avikka started, worried, when bright, fake, sunlight flooded her eyes. "Ow!" She yelled, glancing up at the fake sky, where the supposed light was coming from-

-And as soon as she did, she fainted.

* * *

"Ow," Sophie complained, glaring at the ceiling. "What was that for?"

"Special treatment," Rester told her, fastening the rest of the device on her wrist. "I know it hurts at first, but-"

Sophie shook her head. "No, it was something else. Something... happened." She stared at the roof. "I felt something crashing down on me."

"That was the Examplifier," Rester informed her. "Though the shock when it's first put on should be far lesser than what you felt. It's high-tech, top-secret Commander Techno, which means that you should _never_ lose it."

"What's it for?"

"Spy business. Hardly anyone has it, but I managed to get my hands on one of them and when they found out, I'd already cloned the whole thing and more."

"You _cloned_ it?"

"Ya know, a kinda phrase I made up for my little babies?"

"Your little babies. Yeah, right."

"What? They _are_ kind of dear to me, you know-"

"Agreed."

"Dex, who said you were allowed to barge in on my test subject?"

"Sorry, I just-"

"Test subject? I'm your test subject?" Sophie gaped at the elf sitting in front of her. "I refuse to be someone's test subject!" She tried to get the wristband off, but it wouldn't budge. "How in the world do you get this out?"

"You don't," Rester said smugly. "You keep it on forever unless the maker or the person the maker assigned lets you take it off."

"Rester!"

"That's really cool, you know."

"Yeah, at least Dizznee has a sense of how to appreciate great technology."

"See?"

"Ugh!"

"No comment, Soph?"

"Argh! I'm out of here, guys- just tell me how this thing works, okay?"

"You don't need to do anything. It simply does the opposite of amplifying things- it quietens sounds and others of that sort, like it makes your footsteps really quiet, like reaaaally, like nobody can her it except for someone who's carrying the Central Examplifier Controller, like really really quiet, it's like it makes no sound at all, so it's really good, and so you can see why it's normally used for spies, since they need those, but as I said I got hold of one, and I managed to copy the system- you know, it's, like, really hard to do that, so that means that I'm-"

"Enough with the boasting," Sophie told him. "I have a question, though- why didn't they name it the Quietener, if it does the opposite of amplify? Is there a specific need to call it an Examplifier?"

"That's our Sophie," Biana grinned as she entered Rester's room with a middle-sized teal box monogrammed _**Biana**_ in swirly gold letters. "Always asking for the logical stuff."

"I was just curious."

"And she has every right to," Fitz said. "Rester did tell me that it was a name that he made up- the actual spies call it _Quoranivkar,_ after the goblin with one arm who, according to the myths, succeeded in walking as quietly as an ant. But he needed something easy and also hard to figure out. So he came up with Examplifier."

"Right," Rester confirmed. "Anyway, that's the thing. And it'll make sure nobody hears you guys. Sophie, you alright?"

"Y-yeah," Sophie answered uneasily, fingering the Examplifier. "Though I'm not sure why this hurts so much."

Rester laughed. "The first time always does."

"The balefire waves pass through the device and it'll hurt a lot when your skin isn't used to it. Eventually, though, it will. So no worries and get on with the preparations." Hirlen agreed.

 _"Yes!"_ Biana squealed, jumping up and down. "Come on, Sophie! I've got a special box just for you!" She grabbed Sophie's sore, Examplifier wrist and led her out of the room. "We really need you to get in that outfit... Hirlen and Rester supplied the whole group with special things and we put some on it... you just need to try it!"

"I'll be ready with the rest of you and the preparations!" Rester called after them before he closed the door shut.

 **...**

 _"Are you alright?" asked Sruthan..._

 _"Yes," Avikka nodded..._

 _They continued up the path..._

* * *

 **A/N: Just so you know, Shlim4506 got something right... Haha, not telling you guys exactly _what_ she got right, but she got something right nevertheless. Try to guess! XD**

 **~Love, 4Ever-Foxfire**


	11. Hiraeth

**A/N: I'm back! I'm baaaaack! With something called Another Chapter!**

 **Shlim4506: Yes, you are correct.. XD I was trying to confuse everybody but I guess no one can get past you and your novel-reading experience, lol.**

 **Strawberryair: Mmmmm thanks. ;D**

 **This chapter is inspired by Andrea Zapain, who wrote a blissful poem about Hiraeth, which is one of my new favorite words now, lol! I used to think of that word as plain loneliness, but now it holds a new meaning to me.**

 **I hope this chapter makes you feel that way too!  
**

* * *

 **-10-**

Sophie stared at Keefe. "You're not going?"

The boy uneasily fingered his Examplifier. "Yeah. I mean, I sure want to, but I have better things to do."

"Keefe, _why_ are you like this?" Fitz asked, looking worried by his friend's unusual behavior. "An hour ago you were saying that you'd do anything for us, and now you're saying that we're not important to you."

"Maybe I'm saying that because you really aren't!"

Silence.

Keefe sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which surprised Sophie- the Empath never let anything mess up The Hair.

"Keefe, I'm not sure you're alright. These days your behavior is changing... in the bad way. You don't seem like yourself."

"Maybe I'm not," Keefe huffed, "who you think I am."

"Exactly my point," Sophie told him. "You're turning strange."

"As your good friend, I feel like I have to agree with her, Keefe." Hirlen told the furious boy.

Keefe glared at him.

"So what? I've been like this my entire life- you're the ones who are turning weird. As I said, I have better things to do, like work on my new project. You can go without me, for all I care!"

Fitz stared at Keefe as though he couldn't believe that they used to be best friends.

Biana stared at Keefe as though she couldn't believe that she once had a crush on him.

Rester and Hirlen both stared at Keefe as though they couldn't believe that this was the lighthearted, easygoing Keefe they once knew.

Tam stared at Keefe as though he couldn't believe that he picked him.

Linh stared at Keefe as though she couldn't believe that he was supposed to be sane.

Dex stared at Keefe as though he couldn't believe that he was even in the same room with such a person.

And Sophie...

Sophie just stared.

Not at Keefe.

At the empty air surrounding him.

At the shadowed silence shrouding the room.

At the windows, the thin shafts of moonlight draping like curtains around them.

Anything but Keefe.

Anything but the boy she once thought she knew.

...

"We have to do something," Rester said as they briskly walked around the corner, on the way to collect more supplies. "I'm suspicious, as most of you will probably be. I'm thinking of using a tracker on him."

"Nice idea," Dex told him.

"Wait, isn't that a bit inhumane?" Sophie worried, catching up on the conversation. "If we actually track his every movement, that's like a really serious form of privacy violation."

"Well, we're elves, not humans, so no need to worry about being inhumane," Hirlen grinned. "Trackers are a good idea. I'll help you and Dex make one of those."

"I agree with Sophie, you know," Linh said quietly. "We shouldn't do this to him, how cruel he might be."

"Linh, this isn't a contest for who's nicer," Tam growled, "It's all about winning and getting that girl back from the enemy or whatever. Stop thinking about morals and start thinking of something _useful_ for once."

Tam didn't, but Sophie heard the hurt gasp. Before she could do anything, though, Linh turned and ran up where they just came from.

"What's she doing?" Tam asked Rester. Shaking his head, the Technopath ran after Linh.

"Sophie?" Instead of explaining the situation, Sophie ran after both of them.

...

"It's okay," Sophie assured the sobbing Linh. "Tam didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know he didn't," Linh said in between sobs. "He's just so- so _irritated_ these days. I don't know what happened- one day he's acting like he wants to protect me, and now it's like he wants to get me off and run away as fast as he can."

"Sounds like someone we know," Rester said grimly. Sophie met his eyes, and he nodded.

Keefe.

"After that incident... It's like Keefe's breaking us all up." Sophie breathed heavily. Rester nodded, the expression on his face dark.

"Can't we do anything?" Linh asked despairingly. "We're supposed to rescue Laieen. This isn't the time to mourn over things like this- I'm sorry."

"No, you shouldn't be," Sophie told her. "You're not the problem here. Keefe is. And maybe Tam, but he's probably stressed out from all the drama. It's not your fault, so don't worry," She sighed. "If only we knew what was going on..."

Rester looked at both of them with a knowing look on his face. "Nobody knows that yet, but we sure do know how to get that kind of information."

...

"What in the world are you doing?" Keefe yelled as they ran up to him.

"Calm down." Rester stuck a piece of thick, silver tape on the startled boy's arm.

"Hey!"

Quicker than quick, The Technopath ripped the tape off. Keefe glared at him, a painful expression crossing his face.

"Ow, dude! Ow! That hurt!" Keefe pretended to pout, but soon got over it. "What's the deal, huh? Pranking your friends?"

"I guess," Rester shrugged, as though it wasn't a big deal. "Just trying out something."

Keefe rolled his eyes. "Well, keep trying it out, just on someone else. That _hurt-"_

"-As you've told us already, like, a thousand times."

"Fitz, I thought you were on my side!"

"Well, I was- until you decided that none of us were important."

Keefe glared. "I never said that, you liar!"

The rest of the group gave each other knowing looks, and Sophie felt sick to the stomach.

 _He forgot about the whole incident. Already._

Sophie thought of their old days, a wistful smile faintly appearing on her lips for an ephemeral time before it vanished, soon to be replaced with a frown. A shockingly painful blast of hiraeth streaked through her heart, scarring the insides of her soul and creating an aching longing for a home...

A home that she could never return to.

* * *

 _Why is there such sadness in my heart?_

 _A loss I know not of_  
 _A loss my heart is well acquainted with_

 _I do wonder if my soul has seen things_  
 _That my eyes have never seen_

 _I miss a place I can't remember_  
 _I wonder if it existed at all_

 _My soul feels old, rooted to the earth_  
 _A weeping willow with deep roots_  
 _Bare branches, reflected in an endless mirror_

 _Extending beyond the limitations of time and space_

 _~ Andrea Zapain, Hiraeth  
_

...

Avikka felt lonely.

Lonelier than she ever had been.

Why? She thought, trying to be rational like her leader had taught her. It didn't work out well, though, given the fact that she was panting a mile a minute.

To be fair, the hill _was_ a bit too steep for her taste. And Sruthan _was_ walking a bit too fast for Avikka's relatively shorter legs.

Yes. Sruthan. Her leader had finally given her his name.

Did that mean that he trusted her like she trusted him? Sruthan had told her in one of their recent meetings that he did not normally tell people his name, because as the leader of a widespread organization he had the responsibility of maintaining a reasonable amount of secrecy.

If he told her his name, it meant that he thought of her as someone in his group. Like a partner in crime, but in a good way.

Avikka had no clue why she so desperately wanted to please Sruthan. She knew he was her leader, and it would make sense to please one's superior. But whenever Avikka saw or talked to Sruthan, something liquid seemed to boil up inside her and make her want to fulfill all of Sruthan's wishes and obey all his commands.

Perhaps it was normal? Maybe it meant she was a dedicated member of the group?

But she didn't even know what she was working for- what the purpose of the whole thing was.

Well, if Sruthan told her to do it, she'd do it.

Right?

"We're here." Sruthan looked around once to ensure their privacy, then pulled out a silvery jewel from his pocket.

The jewel sent thin shafts of moonlight draping like curtains around them...

Somehow, it felt familiar.

She stared in awe as Sruthan beckoned her towards the strange light. "Come on, Firelight. The future is awaiting us."

Avikka nodded and turned to follow Sruthan, when, all of a sudden, she felt something she had never felt before. She felt... She felt as though there was something she was missing. Something she should be knowing, but that her leader wasn't telling her.

One of her bodyguards nudged her, but Avikka felt the somehow familiar impulse to knock him down. A wistful smile faintly appeared on her lips for an ephemeral time before it vanished, soon to be replaced with a bewildered frown. Avikka frantically shook her head.

"What's the matter, Miss?" A guard asked, seeming suspicious. Not wanting to receive negative vibes, Avikka stepped into the silvery light, gritting her teeth as the coldhearted particles dug into her skin, piercing her nerves. Trying not to lose control, she squeezed her eyes shut.

During the fleeting moment in which Avikka was leaping towards unknown territory, she felt that pang in her heart again.

What was it that she was missing?

What was it that she didn't have?

Avikka stared at the strands of light that surrounded her. They looked soft, as gentle and as endearing as any other glittery substance. But Avikka knew from the personal experience she was having right then that they were far less welcoming than they looked.

Why did they remind her of someone she knew?

Someone she was following at that very moment?

Someone she had vowed to never mistrust?

She was feeling that feeling again. She was missing someone. She longed for someone. She needed that someone to hold onto and spill all her secrets on and tease each other and eat together and laugh together and cry together.

She missed a place she couldn't remember. She wondered if it even existed.

Thick hiraeth grasped her heart in its firm grip and refused to let go.

* * *

 **A/N: Ahh! Drama! So much drama!**

 **I actually have nothing to say right now, because y'all have it in the chapter and I don't want to ruin the (hopefully) depressing mood I created, lol.**

 **See you guys in Chapter Eleven! Wow- 11 already?**


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